Randomness…

I think I’m doomed to having horrible running experiences with Mr. Handsome. That’s right folks, I went running again. This time I was wearing heels. And it was on concrete. Was there a mugger, you ask? Was there a gun and/or knives involved? Of course not. There was a bee. A big, fat bumble bee that at first seemed to be swarming Handsome. When he sped up a little, the BEE stuck with ME! He kept dancing around me, never touching me, but it seemed to be sort of flirting with the idea of landing on me. I squeaked, ran a little bit in my silver stilletos, when it continued to swarm, I ducked and yelled “I am NOT a FLOWER!!!!” I then dashed into the church, not so closely followed by Handsome who didn’t have to run in the 100 degree heat.

It’s not like there wasn’t people around. Several people in the parish of Mary, Queen of Peace now think I’m raving mad. Unless they already know me, in which case they know it’s just another day in paradise. “Up! There’s our former youth minister! What’s she doing? Oh, well. Looks crazy as usual.” This is what I get I guess for bathing with Crabtree and Evelyn‘s soap. When they say it’s from all natural ingredients, they are NOT kidding. And with natural beeswax too! I must have smelled like a English countryside Bee-brothel. And that dude was all about him some Steph. It also didn’t help that I was wearing a brightly colored shirt. Yeah…

How was I to know that insects wouldn’t be sensible and trying to hibernate in the air conditioning?

Princesses don’t do bugs. Anywho…

I’ve been working on my scrapbooks with the Scrapbook Queen. I’m almost finished with the current book and only have one and a half pages left. On to the next event! Which is my Engagement Party and starting the shower guest book pages. I have a lot to do with those. We saved so much from the awesome family gathering! It was a glorious celebration. I remember most of it. Handsome remembers all of it. I gotta say, that party was phenomenal! I’m still recovering from it (just kidding- sort of)! See what with all the sugar I consumed, (my body enjoyed that quite a bit, by the way) I/Bernie really wanted to keep on consuming the sugar!!!!

Bernie was happy for a month, at least.

Back to scrapbooking.

In my house, Scrapbooking is essential. We record our events and activities with flourishes and flair. We use the paper and pens that help preserve these memories. The pens are archival tools equivalent to those used by congress. My mother has been a scrapbooking consultant for nearly fifteen years. I was raised making my own books. I went through some phases. I still do. In my middle school years I went through what I call “the sticker phase”. And In high school I started to evolve into what I do now. I am now in the “paper fetish phase”. I love Paper. I love making little things that correlate with my page- out of paper. It’s fun and cute! Shoot, I’m not picky about sticking to my own books. Need a Roman helmet? A margarita for the Bachelorette Party Pages? I’ll do them. Especially if I’m in an idea lull for my own current page project.

I can’t wait until I have several of these books done and on my shelves! These books are fantastic looking. The end results are very rewarding. They are not merely a chore equivalent to housework. They are chronicles of our lives that future generations can gaze upon and marvel. You had better bet that when Handsome and I go with the family on the Croooze, the scrapbook for that event will be made. It will be a source of pride so show my children and grandchildren. “That’s right kids,” I’ll say, “Your gramps and I went to Europe and saw naked beaches… We went to the Vatican, we saw some crazy gypsy people mug tourists…”

Those whipper-snappers may be shocked, they may be amazed. Who knows? I know that they will have the picture books to prove that we did go on these lovely adventures. They’ll have my handwriting telling them the stories in the pictures, naming the people I connect with, the places I’ve seen. They’ll see my handwriting and when I’m gone, their throats will fill with unshed tears. I know this. because I’ve seen my own grandmother’s handwriting in a scrapbook. She’s been with the Lord for thirteen years this November. When I see her handwriting, (that I formerly thought was horrible) I remember making the scrapbooks with her. I remember her telling me stories of the evil cow that chased onto a dung heap and her brother had to rescue her. I remember laughing and playing skip bo(We were laughing the most when we were loosing).

I wonder what Maw Maw thinks of Handsome. I miss her a lot sometimes.

I sure did give her and Paw Paw a laugh yesterday. That Bee must have had the spirit of the evil cow, Maybelle.

The consultant thing is along the lines of Pampered Chef, etc. I will probably post pictures of the Disney book, as I’m almost finished, but they don’t always give the full effect. Cause I put tickets, postcards, and the like in them. Ex. If I went with Handsome to a play, I would put the program in there, the best I could and the tickets and ANYTHING I happened to catch hold of. You are actually in a couple of my scrapbooks. I made four mini scrap books on all four year’s worth of musicals from PHS. Cinderella, Charlie Brown, Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz.

I’m not currently much of a scrapbooker, but I’m going to give it a shot for Harper’s sake. I haven’t really found any baby books that I like, so I’m going to make her more of a scrapbook-type thing instead. I’m actually really nervous about starting it! Is that weird?

Not weird at all! When I first start a book, I’m like that kid who has to dip a toe in before I cannonball in. I hesitate first because i am about to spend a lot of time on that topic (ex. The engagement party) and I have to get in gear. Once I’m in, I’m ALL in!!! And we’re cutting pictures, and paper and making sure paper matches and stickers and using the cricut to make pretty titles…. It goes on like that.